The way people shop has significantly progressed since the development of the worldwide web (WWW). Consumers can now shop from the convenience of their home, office, or while on the road using portable devices. Popular web-sites such as Amazon.com® and Shopping.com®, though different by nature, allow consumers to purchase goods directly through the web-site, sometimes at much lower prices than the prices suggested by local merchants. From a merchant's point of view, such web-sites allow access to a worldwide market of consumers.
The services provided by web-sites such as Shopping.com® belong to a category of web-sites that provide comparison shopping engines (CSEs) that assist consumers by presenting prices and information about a product the consumer may be interested in purchasing. In response to a consumer's query, the consumer is provided with a list of possibilities based on characteristics such as price and popularity. The CSE is generally considered to be an effective tool for consumers.
As another example, Priceline.com® allows a consumer to make a bid for a traveling service, such as a hotel room reservation. In response, the service provider (e.g., either Priceline.com or the hotel), can either accept or reject that bid. In response, the consumer can either search for another alternative or raise the bid until it is accepted by the service provider. The disadvantage of such an approach is that the consumer does not know the particulars of the vendor or service provider. For example, the consumer selects the area and rating of a hotel he or she desires to stay at, but the consumer cannot bid on a specific hotel. Further, all bids placed by the consumer are binding and no true negotiation take place.
Other disadvantages associated with electronic commerce (e-commerce) web-sites relate to the lack of personal interaction between the consumer and the merchant. At best, the personal interaction is limited to a chat with a sale representative who can provide more information about the goods/services that can be purchased through the e-commerce web-site. Another way to motivate consumers to purchase through e-commerce web-sites is to offer generic discounts to all the consumers visiting the web-site.
In the existing art, there is no solution that allows customized personal interaction with the consumers to motivate them to purchase on-line. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a solution that overcomes the disadvantages of e-commerce web-sites.